Basil Lemonade – 5:00 Fridays

My summer garden has gone to hell. The kind of hell where Beelzebub is the Master Gardener. The North Carolina heat coupled with an overseas vacation has left my vines limp. Seriously, the heat here has caused sweat to puddle in crevices I never knew existed. We’ve all been a tad salty, which makes me think that Mother Nature wants to use us to salt the rim of her gargantuan margarita. So in my weeded plots, the plethora of peppers have prospered, but a girl can only add so much spice to her life. My cilantro blossomed early and fell from grace, much like a certain someone I went to middle school with but will not disclose because she is Facebook friends with some of my Facebooks friends and I don’t want to ruffle her feathers lest she is still a mean girl.

My peppers do have a friend in the garden. Basil, not to be confused with the boy’s name Basil (pronounced BAZ-el). I most certainly do not have a little Greek gnome firing up some saganaki in my backyard.

My garden is a veritable edible U.N. with dollops of India hobnobbing with Thailand and flirting with Central America. France pokes her head out and waves too, but she sports a limp. But back to my basil. My earthy, fresh basil that is worthy of so much more than a chiffonade over maters and mozzarella.

Basil reeks of summer and offers a minty freshness that can be used in place of well, mint. Basil pairs well with lemon, another summer staple. Also, I’m addicted to all things lemon after our glorious Italian vacation. I swear Sorrento means lemony goodness in Italian. Unfortunately, I live in Raleigh, where lemons abound in the aisles of Costco, not in the groves that pepper the hillside. Being a Costco girl, I happen to have a mega bag of lemons sitting on my table in an aptly decorated hand painted vessel adorned with lemons that I bought in Sorrento.

Basil Lemonade

Homemade lemonade (I happen to like Family Fun’s recipe.)

Handful of fresh basil

1 or 2 oz Rain Organic Cucumber Lime Vodka

Lemon slice

Prepare homemade lemonade. Muddle fresh basil leaves with cucumber lime vodka. Pour into a tall glass filled with ice. Top off with lemonade. Slap a lemon slice on the side of the glass to make it look gussied up.

Find yourself a porch swing or a rocking chair. Inhale the fleeting nights of summer. And if you happen to see a gnome noshing on your beet roots, ask him what he did with the Leprechaun Bird and Deal caught in their trap last March.